Except instead of the stroke of midnight, it was 4:20 p.m. And instead of popping the cork on bottles of champagne, the reggae musician urged the Victoria Park crowd to "Get your bong ready and spark that (stuff) up!"

And then the crowd lit pipes and joints of marijuana.

And frankly, it was a lot calmer than any New Year's Eve party I've ever attended.

It was all part of 420 Day, an annual counter-culture celebration for marijuana enthusiasts around the world.

While more than 1,000 people gathered in Victoria Park for Tuesday's event, larger crowds were expected elsewhere, including a gathering at the Vancouver Art Gallery (at which former Londoner Marc Emery, still awaiting extradition to the U.S. for selling marijuana seeds online, was expected to speak), a 420 film festival in Calgary and a celebration in Niagara Falls at Hwy. 420 and Victoria Ave.

"It's just a very peaceful day," said 19-year-old Kalen Charles-Dunne. "You've got people of every kind . . . brought together by something as simple as a plant."

Earlier in the day, London Police Const. Amy Phillipo had said police would be monitoring the local event.

"People will be held responsible for their actions," she said. "We're not going to be turning a blind eye."

But a blind eye was precisely what was turned. At 4:20 p.m., three police officers strolled through the middle of the park while clouds of pot smoke billowed round them. Later, an officer said there'd been "no problems" and no charges had been laid.

Welcome to Canada's weird world of wacky tobacky, where pot is mainly illegal (except for some medical exemptions) but where many otherwise law-abiding Canadians have decided it's a law they'll politely ignore.

"It's a matter of freedom and civil rights," said a 48-year-old woman who identified herself as Rose Marie. "We don't want to be harassed because we choose weed over booze. As far as I'm concerned, booze causes a lot more problems."

Statistics show that about three million Canadians aged 15 or older - or about 12% of the population -- admitted having used cannabis at least once in 2002 (the year for which most recent figures are available). The Canadian Community Health Survey found 1.1% of Canadians used cannabis daily, 3.9% at least once a week and 6% at least once a month.

And just last week, an Angus Reid poll revealed 53% of Canadians support the legalization of marijuana.

"I don't take Tylenol or Advil, so if I have an ache or pain I'll blaze one," said Kroo Kidd, a 35 year-old environmental science student at UWO. "I can tap into myself better that way."

Why 420?

The origin of the expression is cloudy. It's been said to correspond to the number of active chemical compounds in marijuana, California police code for a pot bust, the birthdate of Bob Marley, the death of Adolf Hitler and even Bob Dylan's song Rainy Day Women No. 12 and 35, which is commonly known for its refrain, "Everybody must get stoned." (And in case you're wondering, 12 times 35 equals 420.) Recent consensus, however, links 420 (which is now observed every year on the 20th day of the fourth month) to the daily time (4:20 p.m.) that a group of high school students in San Rafael, Calif., routinely gathered to smoke pot during the early 1970s.

As the tokers were starting to depart Victoria Park at about 5 p.m., I noticed one young man yelling angrily.

He was upset, it turned out, that others had left their litter behind.